"From 1450-1750, trade remained a vital element in the Indian Ocean; however, as the Europeans emerged as a new trading force in the region, a new dynamic emerged. Older trade routes and sites were eventually replaced by newer factories and fortresses, and in many cases this was due to the use of force and violence that the Europeans introduced into the system."

Why do you think the Spanish chose to do the things they did and react to the Amerindian natives they way they did? What pressures acted on them that led them to approach the colonization of the Americas in that way?